In the UK, Father’s Day is celebrated on the third Sunday of June. Established to complement Mother’s Day, on which families and children celebrate mothers, Father’s Day celebrates male parenting and fatherhood.
Originating in the U.S thanks to a young woman by the name of Sonora Smart Dodd, Sonora believed there should be a day to honour fathers – just like that of Anna Jarvis’ Mother’s Day which she’d heard about at a sermon. Raised by her father William Jackson Smart who was Civil War veteran and single parent of six, Sonora worked to organise the world’s first ever Father’s Day celebration which was held at the YMCA in her hometown of Spokane, Washington on June 16th, 1910.
Promoting Father’s Day was not an easy task and it was many years before Sonora was able to begin promoting it on a national level. It wasn’t until 1972 that Father’s Day became a recognised national celebratory day. Today, whilst Father’s Day is not a public bank holiday in the UK, the day itself is widely recognised as being one to honour and treat fathers from all walks of life by children and families.
With Father’s Day 2015 landing on Sunday June 21st, we’re also set to celebrate the longest day of the year which marks the beginning of summer!